Best value Bordeaux 2024 wines tasted en primeur

All Bordeaux 2024 coverage:

Full vintage analysis & top-scoring wines | How the weather conditions shaped the vintage | The growing season month by month | Wine styles: what to expect | Market conditions and pricing strategies

Appellation analysis to come

‘Value’ is of course relative – Château Mouton Rothschild’s 2024 release price is 25% less than last year, and the cheapest since the release of the 2014 vintage, at €252 per bottle ex-négociant. Lafite Rothschild is also the cheapest since 2014 at €288 per bottle ex-négociant. Margaux also dropped 25% from the 2023 release price with a per-bottle offer of €276 ex-négociant.

For some, the 2024 vintage will be the first ‘reasonable’ opportunity to buy a first growth, at least for the past decade. Indeed many wines usually priced at the upper end of the scale are more affordable this year given the market conditions and widespread calls to drop prices.

It’s good news for first time buyers or those who want to buy specific large formats.

And even though 2024 is not a top Bordeaux vintage there are still plenty of excellent bottles, and at the lower end, lots of wines great for opening and enjoying young.

I’ve selected a number of wines below that I think should offer ‘good value’ for their respective appellations. Most should be priced between £20 and £30 – based on 2023 prices where the 2024 one was not available.

In general, value can be found at the cru bourgeois level and within the right bank satellites but there are gems to be found in all the major appellations.